When.... ing or not?
Good morning,
what would be the subtle difference in meaning between those two sentences:
"I waved her goodbye, as she was getting off the bus."
"I waved her goodbye, as she got off the bus."
Does the first one imply that the action "getting off the bus" took longer than in the second sentence or is there further distinction to make?
And a second question (similar one)
"When I called here, she was crying"
Does this sentence mean: I called here and involuntarily saw that she was crying or does it mean she started crying because of me?
Or do I need the following to express the former meaning?
"When I called here, she had been crying"
Thank you!
Top answer
"Does the first one imply that the action "getting off the bus" took longer than in the second sentence That's how we would normally see such situations. However, as the act of getting off a bus is a fairly short one, we would not normally use a progressive form in this 'when' clause. Catull "When I called here, she was crying" The crying began before I called, and was in progress when I arrived.
- "Does the first one imply that the action "getting off the bus" took longer than in the second sentence That's how we would normally see such situations.
- However, as the act of getting off a bus is a fairly short one, we would not normally use a progressive form in this 'when' clause.
- Catull "When I called here, she was crying" The crying began before I called, and was in progress when I arrived.
- Catull "When I called here, she had been crying" The crying began before I called.
- The probable implication is that it had stopped before I arrived.
Get the Weekly English Kit 📬
New words, one handy idiom, and a 2-minute quiz — delivered to your inbox to keep your streak alive.
Catull"I waved her goodbye, as she was getting off the bus.""I waved her goodbye, as she got off the bus."Does the first one imply that the action "getting off the bus" took longer than in the second sentence
That's how we would normally see such situations. However, as the act of getting off a bus is a fairly short one, we would not normally use a progress
0
Related Questions